Aaron Rodgers knows he has doubters as the Packers starting QB, as signs at training camp showed him. Says the QB, "If I've shown my teammates anything the last two months, it's that I think I can handle this."

The advice Rodgers has gotten as he prepared to take over the Packers job: 'Just be yourself. Don't change.' " Says the QB, "It would be phony to try to be somebody I'm not. I think my personality is going to work for this team."

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN IN S.F.

Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy are essentially joined at the hip as quarterback and coach of the Green Bay Packers.

This could have occurred years ago.

McCarthy was the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator in 2005 when the 49ers bypassed Rodgers with the first pick in the draft and selected quarterback Alex Smith.

A year later, McCarthy became the Packers coach -- and quickly sought to smooth over any lingering anguish. Rodgers wasn't picked until the 24th slot of the first round.

"We went through that, probably in the first conversation I had with him after I got here," McCarthy said. "It was important that I addressed that." The 49ers' decision to draft Smith (who lost his starting job to J.T. O'Sullivan and now is out with a shoulder injury) ultimately was made by GM Scot McCloughan and coach Mike Nolan, McCarthy said. But the coordinator had input. He's told Rodgers that in Green Bay he's discovered that the quarterback has more athleticism than he realized from reviewing videotape of Rodgers' college career at California.

"It's irrelevant now," McCarthy says. "This is not my plan. This is God's plan. It's bigger than all of us."

Rodgers says remaining questions were hashed out last year.

"The past is the past," Rodgers says. "As much as you'd like to change it sometimes, things happen for a reason. I'm in Green Bay and I love my situation."

GREEN BAY, Wis.  He is the new face of the franchise, a buoyant kid with the humongous task of succeeding Brett Favre as the Green Bay Packers' quarterback. Yet given the chameleonic strain undoubtedly flowing through the DNA of Aaron Rodgers, people at Lambeau Field are never sure exactly how that face will appear.

Early in training camp, it was a lumberjack look. Rodgers, 24, let his brown hair dangle to his shoulders, accented by a full beard and thick mustache. Something about a pact with a pal in Huntington Beach, Calif. Bored, he shaved the chin and opted for mutton chops and a 'stache. Then he unveiled his Fu Manchu.

Two weeks ago, the jaws and chin were covered in stubble.

The franchise's real face? "I guess," Rodgers shrugs, sitting on a table in an empty auditorium at the stadium.

Got a name for this look? "Scruff," he says. "Hey, you've got to keep it interesting."

Some passers get points for double pumps. This one racks up double takes.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy has at times locked his eyes on Rodgers — who makes his debut as an NFL starter tonight against the Minnesota Vikings — while trying to put his finger on what changed overnight.

"He needs to get a real hobby," McCarthy dryly suggests.

"No way he gets any of those suggestions from me," says Aaron Kampman, Rodgers' camp roommate. "That's all on him."

Adds wide receiver Greg Jennings: "He's just different. Not in a bad way. He's very spontaneous, especially when it comes to his hair and his clothing selection. That's just his own little thing."

When the Packers flew to Denver for an Aug. 22 preseason game, Rodgers took his penchant for startling manifestations to another level. He found a replica Civil War uniform at an Army Surplus store — Union infantryman garb, complete with a hat — and then turned heads as he boarded the aircraft.

"I thought it would be pretty cool to rock an outfit on the plane," Rodgers says. "Guys cut up quite a bit when they saw it. A lot of laughter. But I kept my earphones on, because I knew Coach (McCarthy) would not be very fond of my attire."

Meet Rodgers, a Chico, Calif., native spiritual enough that he lists The Bible as his favorite book and a wisecracker to the nth degree. There's a daring edge in the son of a former semi-pro football player, but he's also California laid-back; he sometimes entertained teammates by strumming an acoustic guitar in his dorm room in camp. And he's so sure of himself that he had the audacity to go Civil War-era just days after a disastrous exhibition vs. the San Francisco 49ers.

If the pressure of replacing a Hall of Fame-credentialed icon has gotten under his skin, Rodgers is not wearing it loudly, carrying on in many ways as the same gregarious type who was Favre's understudy for three years.

"My dad said it, Trent Dilfer said it, my brother said it. 'Just be yourself. Don't change,' " he says. "Guys would read right through it. It would be phony to try to be somebody I'm not. I think my personality is going to work for this team."

'We think Aaron is ready'

Unpredictability might account for Rodgers' look, but the expectations for him on the field are crystallized. The bulk of a team that won the NFC North crown last season with a 13-3 regular-season finish — but was upset in the NFC title game on its turf in Favre's last game — is intact.

Rodgers is counted on to help them get over the hump. In some regards, that is astounding given Favre's many NFL records. In his only significant game action, Nov. 29 at the Dallas Cowboys, Rodgers relieved an injured Favre and completed 18 of 26 passes for 201 yards — and still lost.

Yet when Favre decided in June to abort a retirement he declared in March, the Packers remained firm in their decision to proceed with the Cal-Berkeley product.

Favre was traded to the New York Jets on Aug. 6, but for weeks the story developed like a much-anticipated tropical storm. After a delayed reinstatement by commissioner Roger Goodell, Favre reported to camp Aug. 4 — but was told he couldn't compete for his old job.

"We think Aaron is ready," general manager Ted Thompson says, "and we're going to give him a chance to show that."

After proceeding with that plan through the offseason conditioning program, minicamps and other sessions, the Packers learned more about their quarterback as Favre's comeback story dominated the start of training camp. Whatever scrutiny Rodgers would have been under as camp opened intensified when the Favre element rejoined the mix. More than 100 reporters, many from national outlets, flocked to Rodgers' first camp practice.

McCarthy says the circus backdrop toughened Rodgers.

"He won't have to wait until his first NFC Championship Game or Super Bowl to learn how to handle the mass media situation," McCarthy says. "He has some experience to draw from, answering the tough question from 20 different angles."

Kampman, a two-time Pro Bowl defensive end, thinks Rodgers' poise amid that blitz added to the respect he'd already earned from teammates. Yet in heart-to-heart talks at the dorm early in camp, Kampman also sensed a toll on Rodgers that was not apparent in other settings.

"It was tough for everybody. But I saw some of his consistency and mental toughness," Kampman says. "If things don't always smell like roses this year, he's going to be able to say, 'I've been through some tough stuff already and we're going to get through this.' "

Rodgers' bond with teammates was also strengthened by a series of Wednesday night cookouts he hosted at his house during the offseason. He invited the team for catered meals, with no strings attached. About 50 players showed up one evening, and there were never fewer than 20.

With the presence of veterans such as Driver, Kampman and cornerbacks Charles Woodson and Al Harris, the Packers don't want Rodgers to feel burdened by leadership demands.

"His job is just to play quarterback," Thompson says. "We're going to try to make it as simple as that."

Rodgers progressed impressively as an understudy, one reason Favre became expendable. But running the scout team in practice hardly compares to facing critical situations in games.

Asked what he hopes to see from Rodgers, Jennings says, "Composure. Having played with Brett, I was convinced of that. A quarterback needs to know how to handle the pressure."

'I think I can handle this'

Rodgers sees this moment as a playwright might. It is the next act in a script replete with plot twists.

When he was drafted, he tumbled to the bottom of the first round after being projected as a top-10 pick and considered for No. 1 overall. Before starring for two years at California, Rodgers had to prove himself in junior college because he wasn't recruited out of Pleasant Valley High School in Chico.

He played one year at Butte (Calif.) College, leading the Roadrunners to a 10-1 mark and No. 2 ranking in 2002, but seems most proud of meshing, at 18, with an eclectic group of long shots.

"I was exposed to a ton of guys with different backgrounds and cultures," he remembers. "Guys from Florida, Texas and Canada. Guys at 25 and 26 years old, still trying to make it. My center was 25. Our free safety, the team leader, was 22 and had been to jail. To be, at a young age, able to get guys to play with you and raise their game, that was a huge lesson. Probably the best year of football for me, as far as personal development. I learned a lot about myself as a leader."

Rodgers' willingness to develop relationships with a diverse set of friends, he thinks, was fueled by other factors. By the end of high school, Rodgers had attended nine schools as the family cycled through addresses in California and Oregon while his father, Ed, worked a variety of jobs before settling into a career as a chiropractor. The family moved back to Chico in 1996.

"The biggest difficulty I had growing up was that we moved so much," Rodgers says. "But I learned a great life lesson. You have to work to support your family and live within your means. That gave me a great foundation; as an NFL player you're given a lot of stuff for free and have big contracts. But I learned at a young age to be content with the stuff we had and to be content with who I am."

To many, he is the kid with the pressure of following a legend. Rodgers readily acknowledges the expectations and realizes adversity is inevitable. He is philosophic about perceptions, believing that as a quarterback he will be blamed and credited for developments of which he has no control. "I know my role is important," he says. "Hopefully, if I've shown my teammates anything the last two months, it's that I think I can handle this.

"There's a lot of mullings about what the season's going to be like. There are still a lot of people I have to prove myself to. That's not my main motivation. But it's definitely in the back of my mind."

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